Daryl Morey Disregards Mike D’Antoni’s Exit on His Decision to Leave the Houston Rockets

For the last few seasons, the Houston Rockets have been on an identical path. They perform great in the regular season and then struggle in the playoffs. This year was no different: the Rockets finished as the fourth seed in the league, but were sent home in the second round of the postseason.

However, the ownership is finally making some big changes for the organization. First, head coach Mike D’Antoni parted ways with the team and now General Manager Daryl Morey has stepped down from his position after 13 years of service.

It might be an indication of mixing things up for the franchise. Moreover, if they trade their two superstars, it would mean heading towards a complete rebuild.

Morey left a thank you note on his Twitter for the franchise, and particularly James Harden.

With Morey gone, one might wonder if Mike D’Antoni’s exit played a role in the decision. But according to a report from The Athletic, Morey denied any rumors about him leaving due to D’Antoni’s exit.

“That didn’t affect my decision, um, at all”

He further added a little bit about assistant general manager Rafael Stone filling his shoe.

“Yea it’s been great, it’s been collaborative. We’ve been up front with all the candidates that this was coming and they’ve been respectful to not have it get out early. It’s been baked in.

Houston is currently on a search for a new head coach, and Jeff Van Gundy is the top candidate as of now.

Who will take coaching responsibilities for the Houston Rockets?

Although the search for a new head coach is still on, Van Gundy will most likely land the job. Team owner Tilman Fertitta revealed about the how the search for the right coach is going on.

“As Daryl said, every single coach that we’ve brought in has been told that Daryl will most likely not be here next season. And not one coach said ‘I’m not coming in.’ So it hasn’t been an issue. They’ve interviewed with our basketball ops.

“Daryl was a great leader, but everybody has seen our (front office) bench, and knows that there’s a lot of talent in our basketball ops, and Tad (Brown) is here. It just hasn’t been an issue whatsoever.”

The Rockets will most likely hire a new coach in the coming few weeks. But what do you think? Who will take the helm for the Rockets?